rowley



' Feb. zo, 1923.

L. -LIIV 4 sheets-sheet l A. C. ROWLEY DRY PIPE VALVE Filed July 2e, 1921 Feb. 20, 1923.

A. c. ROWLEY ISRY PIPE VALVE Filed July 26, 1921 4 sheets-sheet Feb. 20, N323. 1,446,321

A. c. ROWLEY DRY PIPE VALVE Filed July 26, 1921 4 S'h"etS-Sheet 5 Feb, 2102 w23.

A. C. ROWLEY DRY PIPE VALVE Filed Juy 26, 1921 v 4 sheets-sheet Il Patented Feb. 20,1923.

UNITED yISTATas' :PAT

ENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR o. :aownnnor PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssrGNonTo GLOBE AUTOMATIC ySPRTNKLNP. cor/IPANY,kr OP PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A

CORPORATION or PnNNsYLVANrA.

:DRYk PEPE VALVE;

Appnatioa fried :my as,

To all 'wkomgz't,mayoonccrfm i Be it known that l, ARTI-ron C. Roemer', a citizen of the United Statesfzresiding in vlf')hiladelphia7 lveiuisylvania, have inventedV Dry. Pipe ,li/valves7 of which the following is a specification. e, f e n, i

ln dry pipe valves such as are commonly' employed yin connection with automaticy sprinkler systems, it has been found thatk afterk the water Valve orielapper hasopened under operating conditions, the passage,v of water througlrthe valve casing has setup side currents which' in some linstances have acted to cause closing of said waterclapper and a consequent cutting voftof the water flow.

One object of the present invention therefore is to provide a dry`pipe valve with novel means for positively ylocking its .water valve or elapper inthe Open position after itihas once been moved thereto. so thatlit `shall `be impossible for ay subsequentflow ofwater ,V through the valve casing to cause it to close. f

Itis further .desired to provide a novel mounting for lthe waterfclapper-engaging latch of a drypipe valvel `'which shall pre* yent accidental lrelease of the clapper and require forcible manual operation before it `can be freed from said elapper so as yto kpermit elosingfthereof. f n ,l

I also desire toy provide a novel form of dry pipe Valve which shall include clappercontrolled drainage valve, together with ya latch operatively associated with saiddrainage valve for holding the Awater,clapper ,inY its open yposition afterithas-been ymovedthereto gv-the arrangement of lparts being such as to require manual tripping or openfk f ing of the drainage valve before the latch can be so operated as to release ythe water Valve, thus-avoiding the possibility (of the A latch` being disengaged fromfthe water 'clapper by the violent flow of water through the `valve.' i, k y N Thesel obj ects' and other advantageous ends I- attain as hereinafter set fortlnkreference being had tol thel accompanying drawings, in which,

AFig. 1 is a longitiidinal verticalsectiony of a dry pipevalve constructed in accord ance withmy invention; 'y f Fig, 2 is'` aplanpartly in section andon a larger scale than'lig1,` illustrating the i921. serial No. 487,618.

detail construction and` mounting for the water elapper and drainage valve with their associated parts; and

Figs. 3 andy 4l are vertical sections on the' line 3-3, Fig. 3, illustrating a water clapper and its associated ,parts in the positions respectively occupied when it is closed and Open.

In the above drawings, 1 represents the casing ofy a dry .pipe valve having Va water inlet 2, an'outlet 3, and two transverse partitions 4 and 5. Through the first of these `partitions is, a circular opening axially in line with the inlet andoutlet vand inclined in a plane atan angle thereto, having a seat 6 for coactlon with an air elapper orvalve rlhe partition 5 also has an opening in which -is mounted a valve seat .8v for coaction withv a water clapper 9. f

Under conditions of use the chamber 10 leading fromthe inlet 2 is connected there'- kby' to a water supply conduit.` 'while the chamber 11 having the outlet 3 isconnected tothe sprinkler systemA whichr normally contains air under a predetermined pressure. Theair clapper 7 has a counterweight 12 tending to unseat 'and swing it into, the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig.` 1 and the casing adjacent said clapper has a side opening normallyy closed by a cover platel 13 made inwardlyv concave to receive the clapper when 'in its open position as well as to limit its'movernentf Saidclapper is mounted to swing on a pivot spindle '14 in the air chamber 11 and opposite saidspindle has a pin 15 set in position to cooperate with a weighted latch lwhieh at lall times tends to swing on its pivot 16a soas` to 'prevent reseating of the air clapper after it has once moved predetern'iined,distance off its seat 6; y

The water elapper 9 is connected more or yless loosely by ball and socket joint to a forked yoke 17 whose branches are mounted' on a pivot spindle 18 extending transversely of the` casing 1within the chamber 19 between the two partitions .4 and 5. `This chamber is normally connected tothe atmosphere through a valve seat 20,mounted in its lower part and cooperating with a drainage valve 21 loosely hung from apivotspin dle 22 carried by the branches of ak forked arm 23 rotatably-mounted on the clapper spindle 18. The opposite yend of said arm is extended beyond said latter spindle to cooperate with a finger 24 laterally proj ecting from one of the branches ot: the yoke l?.

The arrangement is such that when the water clapper 9 is closed and inengagement with its seat, this linger engages the extension ot the arm 23, holding it in such position that the drainage valve 2l is held out of engagement with and above its seat Said arm extension is extended downwar lly as indicated in dotted lines at and designed to cooperate with an abutment l26 provided by a portion of the casing structure, to limit its downward movement.

Also journaled on the pivot spindle 22 ot' the drainage valve is a hooked latch 2T extended toward the water clapper and having the under edge 28 oit its tree end inclined to cooperate with the finger 24 when the water clapper moves toward its open position.

The'under tace or the air clappcr 7 is formed with a downwardly projecting stud 29 designed to cooperate with the forward end of the yoke 17 so that when the clappers are'closed, air under a predetermined pressure in the chamber 1l will act through the air clapper and the'stud 29 upon the yoke 17 to hold th'ewater clapper closed against the relatively higher water pressure in the chamber l0. v

Vith the parts in t-he positions shown in Fig. Lthe drainage valve 2l is held open vso that the chamber 19`is at' atmospheric pressure. It now one or more of the sprinkler heads of the system connected to the outlet 3 should open, the resultingreduction ot' air pressure in the chamber il will permit the pressure of the water acting on the clapper 9 to unseat it, so that it and the air clapper 7 will move to the open positions indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l. Since the. movement of the water clapner toward the position shown in Fig, lwill cause the finger 24- to disengage the arm 23, the drainage valve 2l, under the action ot gravity, will swing` downwardly as said arm turns on the pivot spindle into engagement with its seat 20 as shown in Fig. 4. Thereafter said finger will the inclined `tace 28 of the end of the latch 27, raising it and iinally entering its recess 30, a't'ter which said latch :tails into the position shown in Fig. il.

later is now tree to pass from the inlet 2 of the casing straight through the same to its outlet and even though it should swirl and set up eddy currents acting upon the water clapper 9, the latter is nonethe less eifectually held by the latch in its open position. Said water currents cannot raise the latch to free the linger 24 since sai-id latchv latch can be disengaged from said linger. rThe torce ot the water `currents passing through the valve casing` is not sufficient to raise the latch and also unseat the drainage valve 2L so that the water clapper is held open until after the flow ot 'water has been cut oli'. The latch 27 may then be manually disengaged from the finger 2e ot the water clapper and the valve 2l unseated, alter which the various parts of the device may be restored to their normal posit-ions. The drainage valve 2l being normally open7 permits the escape of any liquid which may leak into the chamber 19 and maintains it at atmospheric pressure.

F rom the above description it will bc noted that after having once been moved to its fully open position41 the water clapper is positively held or locked therein by the latch. Moreover the drainage valve is held upon by the water clapper until such time as the latter ope-ns, when it is released and permitted to seat not only by its own weight but by reason of the added weight ot the arm 23 and latch 27.

I claim:

l. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a water clapper; a drainage valve; a member carrying said drainage valve and normally retained by the water clapper in position to hold the drainage valve open; and a latch also carried by said member for yholding the water clapper in'its fully open position after it has been moved thereto.

2. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a casing having water7 air and atmospheric chambers; air and water clappers in the casing; a drainage valve for the atmospheric chamber normally held open .by the water clapper; and a latch operatively associated with said drainage valve for positively holding the water clapper in its full open position after it has moved thereto.V y

3. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a casing; a water clapper and a drainage valve therein; and a latch for holding the water clapper fully open, mounted to require opening of the drainage valve before it can be moved to a dapper-releasing position.

4. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a casing; a water clapper; a spindle for rotatably connecting the water clapper to the casing; an arm mountedon the spindle and normally held in a predetermined position by the clapper as long as the latter is closed; a drainage valve carried by said arm; and a latch also mounted on thel arm in position to hold the clapper open after it has'been moved to its open position.

5. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a casing; a water clapper; a spindle for rotatably connecting the water clapper to the casing; an arm mounted on the spindle and normally held in a predetermined position by the clapper as long as the latter is closed; a drainage valve carried by said arm; With a latch also mounted on the arm in position to hold the clapper open after it has been moved to its open position and formed to cause opening of the drainagevalve before it can be moved to a clapperereleasing position.

6. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a Water clapper having a projecting member; a lever having an arm in position to cooperate with said member; avalve carried by said lever and held in its'open position thereby by the engagement oi the arm by the projecting member of the Water clapper when the latter is closed; and a latch carried by said lever for holding the vvater clapper open.

7. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a casing; a Water Clapper therein; a spindle rotatably connecting said clapper to the casmg; an armconnected to and movable With the water clapper; a drainage valve for the casing; a lever engaging said drainage valve and mounted on the spindle 1n position to be engaged by said arm ol the Water clapper to hold the drainage valve open When the Water clapper is closed; and a latch also carried by the lever in position to engage said f arm of the Water clapper tohold the latter in its open position `ar'ter it has been moved thereto.

8v. The combination in a dry pipe valve of a Water clapper; a latch for holding said ,',clapper in its full open position after it has moved thereto; a drainage valve associated with said latch so as to be necessarily opened when the latch is moved to itsy clapper-releasing position; With a member controlled by the Water-clapper forsupporting both the drainage valve and `said latch.

kARTHUR o. RoWLnY. 

